It is often hard to find shrubs that flower in the summer—and even better yet, shrubs that flower well in the shade—but summersweet clethra (Clethra alnifolia) fits the bill for both. Clethra is native along the coast from Maine to Florida and around the peninsula to Texas.

Characteristics of Clethra : Ruby Spice

- Flowers actually come in two flavors: white and pink. ‘Ruby Spice’ is one of the best pink-flowered cultivars for Arkansas.
- Ruby Spice has bottlebrushlike clusters of tiny, fragrant, bell-shaped, reddish-pink flowers that appear in late summer.
- This shade-loving native shrub a favorite of bees and butterflies.
- It is a wonderful addition to the border or woodland edge.
- Ruby Spice Summersweet features beautiful spikes of fragrant ruby red flowers rising above the foliage from mid to late summer, which are most effective when planted in groupings.
- Ruby Spice Summersweet is a multi-stemmed deciduous shrub with a shapely oval form.
- Ruby Spice Summersweet will grow to be about 5 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 5 feet.
- It grows at a slow rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 30 years.
- Plants are typically not dense, and they have a distinctive soft texture due to the fine twigs and leaves.
- Clethra does not appear to be susceptible to any serious disease or insect problem. Plants can be pruned in early spring, since flowers are born on new growth.
- On cool nights when the windows are open. The scent from the ruby spice fills the room.

How to sow/plant Clethra : Ruby Spice

- Purchase ruby spice in early spring. The ruby spice summersweet grows in zone 3-9.
- Plant your shrub in moist, slightly acidic sandy soil.
- This shrub grows best in an area that has sun and partial shade.
- Dig a hole the same depth of the nursery container. Allow two feet in width. Loosen the soil in the bottom of the hole. Mix organic compost or manure with the soil.
- Place the root ball in the middle of the hole.
- Apply three inches of mulch around the shrub. The mulch will help retain moisture and will prevent weed build up.
- Maintain uniform soil moisture the first season.
- Each spring before growth begins, apply an all-purpose fertilizer, following label directions.

PLANTING INFO …

- Grows to about 6 feet
- Flowers: Rosy Pink flowers in Summer
- Fall color: Yellow
- Light requirements: Some shade or full sun
- Cold hardy to zone 3 (zones 3-9)
- Easy to grow, Summersweet
- Latin name: Clethra Alnifolia Ruby Spice

Sedum, also known as stonecrop, is a popular, well-known perennial garden plant. The succulent leaves, sturdy stems and massive flower heads have earned the plant a spot on many landscapers’ “must have” lists. Besides their physical attributes, sedums are drought tolerant and can withstand many adverse growing conditions, which also makes them ideal landscape perennials. Sedum ‘Black Jack’ is sure to match the tough and easy-to-grow reputation of most sedum cultivars and offers characteristics unparalleled by other sedums.

Characteristics of Sedum : Black Jack

- The Sedum ‘Black Jack’, ‘Sedum ‘Black Jack’ PPAF, is a recent discovery at Walters Garden in Michigan.
- The stems and foliage are darker than most sedum in its family. It has 2′ tall clumps of purple stems with black to purple foliage.
- With a plant height and width of 24″, its 8″ pink flower heads bloom in September, making a wonderful contrast with its foliage.
- It makes a wonderful border plant.
- Many are attractive even in winter when their foliage dies and is left standing.
- They’re favorites of butterflies and useful bees.
- The tall types are outstanding for cutting and drying.
- The characteristic dark purple foliage will take on a lighter coloration when plants are produced at lower light levels.
- During midsummer, large, broccoli-like flower heads form, containing numerous flower buds.
- By late summer, the flower buds swell and begin to show a pink coloration. As the buds open, the color intensifies, revealing an impressive color display of bright pink, 8-inch flower clusters.

Planting Conditions for Sedum : Black jack

- Plant in full sun to part sun with other Sedum or Salvia.
- Prune in spring when new growth appears; divide plants every three or four years.
- Sweet or Sour Soil ?:
Acidic Soil (pH < 7.0)
Neutral Soil (pH = 7.0)
Alkaline Soil (pH > 7.0)
- This good-natured, easy-to-grow plant is very drought-tolerant and deer-resistant.
- For the best performance, plant ‘Black Jack’ in a well-drained media, preferably a nursery-type (bark-based) mix rather than traditional greenhouse (peat-vermiculite) media.
- Black Jack is a light to moderate feeder.
- Black Jack requires a below-average amount of irrigation.

Aruncus is native to deciduous woodlands of eastern and central US as well as western Europe.

Characteristics of Aruncus dioicus or Goatsbeard

- Goatsbeard, Aruncus dioicus, is a North American perennial with feathery plumes of cream colored flowers in late spring or summer.
- It can group up to a height of about seven feet and looks wonderful. – It is a perennial plant.
- The flowers of this plant are tiny in size and are of white color.
- Ornamental sprays of tiny white flowers bloom briefly but spectacularly for two weeks in early summer.
- It also has a deep and strong root system, breaking more than one shovel quite easily.
- Each flower spray contains thousands of tiny blossoms which rise in loose blooms 6 to 10 inches above the foliage.
- The plants are either male or female; one plant does not contain both sexes.
- The male plants supposedly have showier flowers than female ones.
- Female plants produce tiny brown seed capsules, which are poisonous.

Growing Conditions for Aruncus Dioicus

- This plant prefers shade to part shade conditions. I have grown it out in sunshine and it performed well but the blooms didn’t hold on as long as their shaded counterparts.
- The leaves also tended to “burn” a bit in the sun if adequate water wasn’t available.
- This plant blooms in July with 4-5 foot tall plumes.
- The soil should be moist.
- They can be propagated by dividing established root clumps in the spring or fall.
- They tend to grow slowly the first few seasons. The wide-open spaces between young plants can be filled with annuals until the goatsbeard reaches its mature size.

This low maintenance plant needs little care other than watering when the soil becomes dry. Cut back the stems back to just above ground-level in fall and apply a mulch of compost or well-rotted manure around the base of the plant (or in a woodland, allow the tree leaves to remain on the ground to decompose). Goatsbeard has no significant insect or disease problems and is reported to be deer resistant.

Campsis radicans is native to the southeastern and Gulf Coast region of the United States where it grows along fences and at the edge of woodlands. Campsis radicans are also known as Trumpet Creeper or Trumpet Vines.

Characteristics of Campsis Radicans

- The trumpet creeper is a fast growing, high climbing deciduous woody vine that will grow to heights up to 40 ft (12.2 m).
- It has large trumpet shaped flowers that are bright red to orange on the outside, yellow inside and grow in clusters of 2 to 9 Flowers.
- Flowers are followed by long, bean-like seed pods (3-5″ long) which split open when ripe releasing numerous 2-winged seeds for dispersal by the wind.
- It’s flowers attract hummingbirds and provides valuable cover for birds and small mammals.
- The vine’s aerial roots that occur along the stems that attach tightly to surfaces. Once the vine climbs to a certain height it grows horizontal branches that reach away from the support in a quest for light and space.

How to grow Campsis Radicans

- It prefers rich moist soil but is adaptable to less than optimal situations.
- Use a loose, sprawling groundcover, to cascade over a rock wall, as a point of interest on a single fence post, or as a spectacular sweep up the side of a stone building.
- They should be planted where it’s spread will not be a problem or can be controlled by mowing as they grow very fast.
- Prefers full sun for maximum growth and flower production, but tolerates partial shade.
- Showy clusters of yellow orange to red trumpet-shaped flowers first appear in summer (earlier in frostfree climates) and are produced continuously until early autumn.

Usage of Campsis Radicans

- It is best used in woodland gardens and natural areas where it has space to grow.
- It covers fences and other structures.
- It’s easy to grow trumpet creeper on arbors but remember that the aerial roots use a powerful adhesive substance to cement themselves to supports which almost certain to ruin paint surfaces.